Resistance eliminator for aircraft and water craft



y 10, 1932- E. JOHNSON 1,857,960

RESISTANCE ELIMINATOP, FOR AIRCRAFT AND WATER CRAFT Filed March 26, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l' Inventor A llorncy y 10, 1932- E. JOHNSON 1,857,960

RESISTANCE ELIMINATOR FOR AIRCRAFT AND WATER CRAFT Filed March 26, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 10,1932

' RESISTANCE ELIMINATOR se l stener has wuss Application filed march 26, ieso 's ei-iai xe. wai ng Tlhis invention relates to improvements in elevation of the principle applied to a Figure l is altopii-planview of the ship resistance eliminators for air craftand water craft and has for its primary ob gect, the provision of means for eliminating the parasitic resistance in air craft inflight and water craft in moving over or through body of water. ii a v;

Another object of the invention'is to provide means for controlling or regulating thepara'sitie resistance 0111111 craft when desired;

A further object is to provide "a novel means whereby the lifting power of an airfoil of an aeroplane can beiincreased without increasing the parasitic resistanceand-which also serves to stabilize air craft in flight, and water craft when moving 111 a: forward Cll-j rection over or through-a body of water.

Astill further ob]ect is to provide improved means whereby the speed of aircraft and water craft will bemateriallyincreased without increasing the horse power of the craft and which facilitates the easy maneuvering of air craft and water craft when in motion. v

.A still further object-is .to provide means whereby the bowior front of water craft or dirigibles will be prevented from swerving, thus maintaining the crafts ona given course. The invention has for a still further object the provision of a construction which will accomplish the various aims set forth heretofore, and which may be inexpensively installed in air craft and water craft Without necessitating any material alterations inthe construction thereof, and which is positive and cificient in operation.

With these and otherobject-s in view, the invention resides in the certain novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, the essential features of which are hereinafter fully described, are particularly pointed out in the appended elaimspand are illustrated in the accompanying; drawings,

ing the principle of my invention applied to a dirig'ible.

' Figure 3 is a diagrammatic-view in side fun-WARD sonivson, ornnw mia I shown; in Figurefi-with partsvbroken away.

Figureo is a diagrammatic view illustrats in'gtheprincipleas applied to a marine tor-' tudinally-disposed. curvled wall 20. v Hinged to?the lowergwall 19, at the 'rearedge thereof .1"

is a iresistanoe eliminator or flap valve '21.

Supported-in substantially parallel relation with respect to :the rear zend. of ithe top Wall Elissa flat partition 22, which I partition 22 is held inspaced relation to the'top .wall 18 by'isp'aced transverse partitions 23 to divide theipocket into'inner and outer communicatingmchambers. It wwill;1be appreciated that vacuum will be created at the restricted passage r24 between gthe-fiapper 21 and the of "the diri'gible;bei11g -,designat edqby the ref-v erence character 25. In. this form the partition is designated by the numeral 26 and which is circular in form toencompass the noseend 10f the-bag 25., land which is heldin spaced therefrom andsubstantially parallel tozthe'. walls of the nose by partitions 27. The

tip @of the nose overlaps the forward end of the partitionj26asat28 to provide a restricts edpas'sage.betweenthe forward exterior portion of the partition and the inner walls of thenoseportion'i28'. Although I have stated that: thepartition 26 is\substantiallyparallel;

toxthel'nose. of the dirigible bag, the rear edge of the partitionlmay be spaced at a slightly a greater ispace than that between a the front edge of .;the partition and the nose 28. Al-

though I have specifically described the rap-V i will facilitate easier maneuvering of-the cum-- plication of the invention to the nose of the dirigible bag, the same principle may be embodied at the tail end of the bag and at intermediate portions, the partition passing around the intermediate portion of the bag only extending approximately half way therearound. v v

By embodying the same principle to vthe.

bags of dirigibles, it will be seen that the head resistance is materially reduced, which pockets are closedboth at the top and bot-= tom to enable the necessary vacuum to be setup in order to reduce the parasitic resistance of the vessel during its forward movement through a body of water. Although I havedescribed the principle as applied to the bow i of'a boat or vessel, the same may be equally applied to the: vessel midships as illustrated.

In the usevof my invention as shown in Figures 3 and 4, the pockets 29 are closed both at the top and-bottom while the-spacelbetweenthe sides of the hull and the partitions 30 are closed at the top and opened at the.

bottom. This tendsto eliminate drag along the protruding keel and causes the reduction of resistance. 1

In Figure 5 of the drawings, I haveillustrated a marine'torpedo 32 in which the invention is precisely the sameas that shown in Figures 3 and 4, and like reference characters refer to like parts. The same principle may be embodied at the tail end of the torpedo as illustrated in Figure5r From the foregoingdescription it will be seen that by applying the principle to either an aeroplane wing, dirigible, steamship, or

r mar-ine torpedo, the result is the same, namely the breaking down or reduction of the parasitic resistance, thus enabling these various crafts to travel at" an increased speed without an increase of horse power, and will further prevent the-nose of dirigibles, ships,

and torpedoes, from swerving when in flight,

and will materially increase the liftingpower. i

Although I have illustrated several uses to which my invention may be put, vit will be understood'that other types of air and water crafts may be equipped with this principle and that the parts and their arrange H ment may bemodified if desiredwithoutin any way departing from thespirit ofjmy invention, as I do not limit myself to the structural details herein shown and provided, nor to anything less than the whole of the invention, limited only by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is t r v 1. In a propelled device, a body provided with two communicating passages, one passage opening-forward otthe other passage,

said forwardly opening passage having a 7 dil'n'ensional decrease to the atmosphere while said other passage hasa dimensional increase to the atmospherether eby causing a continuous circulation of air or water from the rear opening therethrough as and for the. pur: poses specified.

2. In a propelled device, a body having a.

curvilineal passage of a dimensional increase to the atmosphere at one end and a dimen-V sional decrease to the atmosphere at the other forward end thereby causing ,a continuous circulation of air or water therethrough from the rear opening for the purpose specified.

'3. In a propelled device, abody having its surface so formed to provide a tapered passage having an inlet and outlet to the atmosphere, said outlet being forward of said inlet andrhaving a dimensional. decrease .to

the atmosphere, said inlet having a dimensional increase to the atmosphere thereby causing a continuous circulation. of air or water therethrough. from the rear thereof for the purpose specified.

4. A propelled device comprising a body 'having'a pocket therein, opening to the at mosphere a partition member set in said 1 pocket to form said pocket into a continuous passage having an inlet, and. an outlet forl ward'of said inlet, said inlet having a dimensional increase to the atmosphere, said outlet having a dimensional decrease to the atmosphere whereby a stream of air or water passing said outlet and a part of said stream of air or water entering said inlet causes a continuous clrculationof air or water around said partition member for the 'pur-.

pose specified. 4 V

'5. propelled device comprising a body having a pocket opening to the atmosphere,

a partition member set in said pocket to form said pocket into a-compression chamber having an inlet of a dimensional increase to the atmosphere, an outlet to said chamber aroundthe'forw'ard part of said member, said outlet having a dimensional 'decrease'to the atmospherewhereby a stream of air or water passing the said outlettand a part'of which 3 entersrthe increased inlet opening to said compression chamber causing a continuous circulation of air or water around said partition member thereby maintaining a constant uniform compression of air or water within lit) pose specified.

6. A propelled device comprising abody the outer surface of which is so formed to provide a pocket which opens to the atmosphere, a partition member set in said pocket and spaced from the walls thereof for dividing said pocket into inner and outer communicating chambers, both of said chambers opening to the atmosphere, said inner chamber having a dimensional increase to the atmosphere said outer chamber having a dimensional decrease to the atmosphere and opening in an outwardly and rearwardly direction whereby a stream of air or water passing the restricted opening to the atmosphere of said outer chamber will, owing to the greater leverage at that point create a. greater outward suction within said outer chamber than that within the inner chamber and will continuously draw out from said communicating inner chamber any partial vacuum drag therein and owing to a part of said stream of air or water having its path abruptly widened at the larger opening.

7. A propelled device comprising a body having a pocket opening to the atmosphere, a partition member set in said pocket for dividing the pocket into inner and outer communicating chambers, both of said chambers opening to the atmosphere, said inner chamber having a dimensional increase to the atmosphere and said outer chamber having a tapered release vent to the atmosphere,

2* whereby the atmospheric pressure of air or water within said inner chamber being greater than the pressure of air or water within said outer chamber is partially released through said communicating outer chamber and taper release vent thereof to the atmosphere, thereby causing a continuous circulation of air or water around said partition member as and for the purpose specified.

8. A propelled device comprising a body having a pocket opening to the atmosphere, a partition member set in said pocket for dividing said pocket into inner and outer communicating chambers both of said chambers opening to the atmosphere, said inner chamber having a dimensional increase to the atmosphere while said outer chamber has a dimensional decrease to the atmosphere, said pocket and partition member being so formed and arranged at the communicating passage of said chambers whereby the pressure and also the circulation of air or water can be governed as desired within said chambers in the direction as and for the purpose specified.

9. A propelled device comprising a body chambers opening to the atmosphere, said inner chamber having a dimensional decrease inwardly from the atmosphere and being less than the outer chamber dimension adjacent the. communicating passage of said chambers, said outer chamber having a dimensional decrease to the atmosphere where larger than the outer chamber dimension ad-' jacent the communicating passage of said chambers, said outer chamber having a dimensional decrease to the atmosphere wherea by the pressure of air or water within both of said chambers is increased and causes a circulation of air or water around said par-- gitilon member as and for the purpose speci- 11. A propelled device including a body having a pocket therein opening to the atmosphere, a partition member set in said pocket for dividing the pocket into inner and outer communicating chambers, both of said chambers opening to the atmosphere, said inner chamber being larger and having a dimensional increase and also an increased area opening to the atmosphere, said outer chamber being smaller and having a dimensional decrease to the atmosphere forward of said area opening whereby atmospheric pressure of air or water within said area opening enters said inner chamber and a part of which is released or is drawn through said outer chamber to the atmosphere by the passing stream of air or water as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

' EDWARD JOHNSON. 

